The Halfling (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 17

(Edited slightly)
HEY!! So Lion King is OVER (who HOOO) so now I can devote more time to writing! ANYWAY! Let's get on with the show!

Well that was odd. This.... well... I'm gonna guess he was a prince or a noble of some sort, came up to my cage and was really weird. At first he was all proper and stuff, but when Aurora's back was turned, he.... changed. He went from cold and calculated and overall not someone to be trifled with, to... well, someone my age who wanted to help me. The prince's eyes were... well, gold is the only word I can think to describe it. I could see the change in them when he looked at me.

They haven't taken me out of my cage yet, but the people have left. Somehow, the horns I have matched the.... ehhh... thing he rode. Granted, mine were taller, and it's were tighter spiraled, but the horns were definitely of the same species. It was obviously a relative of the gazelle, but it was a lot bigger. As in, WAY bigger than a horse. Like... at least 1/3 bigger. And it had this weird... Adam's apple type thing.

Now that I've seen it, I'm wondering... are they turning me into THAT? What possible advantage could that have? Well, other than random nobility get to ride around on my back. I have it's horns, but I don't know ANYTHING about it's eyes. My eyes are different since the last syringe. I can see better in the dark, but it makes things far away blurry. I can also focus more on moving things... but the thing is, this isn't always great. I can't see as many colors or variations of colors in the daytime, so that's annoying.

I'm interrupted by Aurora unlocking my cage. As always, the trees part and my chain shrinks to an anklet of lilies. This time however, she leads me directly to the castle, which is a relief because I don't want to put on another dress. I'm lead into a different room than the testing one, and it's already got a crazy amount of people in it. It's a giant half circle, with three thrones against the flat wall. The rest of the room is taken into 4 sections, and there is a small half circle that is empty around the thrones. I see the color differences in the sections, identifying my gold section, a silver one, a copper one, and a bronze one. I'm lead to the front of the gold section, where Aurora and I stand.

I gasp as someone else is lead in across the room. It's Wren, clothed in all blue and silver. I take several steps towards her before Aurora grabs my arm with an iron grip. She meets my eyes, and I see the shock in her expression. She has giant horns on her head, and I'm relieved I'm not the only one. They look like deer or elk or something in that family, and I can only imagine what she thinks about my horns. She takes her place in front of the silver and icy blue section, along with a cold lady that I assume is her equivalent to Aurora.

Next I see Autumn, and her red hair is unmarred by horns. However, she enters with a gust of cold wind that I feel in my bones. As she walks closer, I see her eyes have changed, and I wonder if mine have changed color as well as abilities. She takes the head of the copper section, and I wonder who will take the head of the bronze section. Those were the two I knew would be here... so who else could be here?

And then they walk in. The person who walked in was my neighbor, but the one that nobody ever talks to because she never talks. She sits outside, and has a swing where she watches the birds in her bird feeder, and she has a huge garden. I tried being friends with her when she first moved in, but she always ignored me. In rainstorms, especially in the spring, she would go outside and dance in the rain. Honestly, I don't even know her name.

She walks to the head of the bronze section, and her brown hair shows horns similar to Wren's, but slimmer and with less offshoots. As she glances up, I see her eyes, dark brown and gentle. She obeys what the lady tells her to do without a thought. And then I hear a collective swish of fabric, and I see the sections all rise. The lady who had visited me first, the Queen, the experimenter, was walking down between the copper and silver sections, and she took her place in the center.